TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office says he has conceded defeat to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this week’s election. Lapid congratulated Netanyahu and has instructed his office to prepare an organized transition of power. Lapid made the announcement Thursday after a near-final vote count showed Netanyahu securing a parliamentary majority.

SINIYAH ISLAND, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An ancient Christian monastery possibly dating as far back as the years before Islam spread across the Arabian Peninsula has been discovered on an island off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. That's according to officials who announced the find on Thursday. The monastery on Siniyah Island, part of the sand-dune sheikhdom of Umm al-Quwain, sheds new light on the history of early Christianity along the shores of the Persian Gulf.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani officials say former Prime Minister Imran Khan was slightly wounded in the leg by a gunman who opened fire at his protest convoy. The shooting killed one of Khan's supporters and wounded nine other people in the Wazirabad district in the Punjab province of eastern Pakistan. Khan was traveling in a large convoy of vehicles heading to the capital of Islamabad as part of his campaign to force early elections.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Russians seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine in the opening stages of the war, mayors, civilian administrators and others say they have been abducted, threatened or beaten to force their cooperation. In some instances, they have been killed. Human rights activists say these actions could constitute a war crime. Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov said he was abducted from his office and “the bullying and threats did not stop for a minute."

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli election officials were tallying the final votes from national elections on Thursday, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking likely to reclaim the premiership with a comfortable majority backed by allied parties.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired at least six missiles into the sea on Thursday, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that triggered evacuation warnings and halted trains in northern Japan, adding to a recent barrage of weapons tests. The ICBM test was followed by launches of two short-range ballistic missiles in the morning, drawing swift condemnation by North Korea’s neighbors and the United States, which reacted by extending joint air force exercises with South Korea.

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Ethiopia’s warring sides have formally agreed during talks in South Africa to a permanent cessation of hostilities in a 2-year conflict whose victims could be counted in the hundreds of thousands. Enormous challenges lie ahead including getting all parties to lay down arms or withdraw.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Lisa has gained more force in the western Caribbean as it heads for landfall in Belize. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Lisa had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph early Wednesday afternoon.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's coast guard says rescue crews searching for dozens of migrants missing at sea after a sailing boat sank off the coast of a Greek island, have found another person alive, bringing the total number of survivors to 12. A coast guard helicopter spotted the man in the sea on Wednesday, more than a day after the sailing boat reportedly carrying 68 people capsized and sank in rough seas between the islands of Evia and Andros, in the notoriously treacherous Kafireas Strait.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared headed toward victory in national elections, with some 85% of the ballots counted and showing that voters gave him and his allies what looks like a stable majority in the country’s parliament. Votes were still being counted on Wednesday morning and the results were not final.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Air raid sirens sounded on a South Korean island and residents evacuated to underground shelters after North Korea fired more than 20 missiles, at least one of them in its direction and landing near the rivals’ tense sea border. South Korea quickly responded by launching its own missiles in the same border area.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Diplomatic efforts have salvaged a wartime agreement that allowed Ukrainian grain and other commodities to reach world markets. Russia said Wednesday it would stick to the deal after Ukraine pledged not to use a designated Black Sea corridor to attack Russian forces. The Russian Defense Ministry said, “The Russian Federation believes that the guarantees it has received currently appear sufficient, and resumes the implementation of the agreement.”

BEIJING (AP) — Visitors to Shanghai Disneyland were temporarily blocked from leaving as part of virus testing the city government said extended to 439,000 people. Walt Disney Co. and the city government said the park closed Monday for virus testing of staff and visitors. They gave no details of an outbreak, but last week 1.3 million residents of a Shanghai district were told to stay home for testing.

This summer, as China was protesting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, a much different geopolitical standoff was taking shape in another corner of the Pacific. An armed U.S. Coast Guard cutter sailed up to hundreds of Chinese squid-fishing boats off Ecuador seeking to make an inspection for signs of illegal fishing. But three of the boats sped away and another turned aggressively toward the U.S. cutter, forcing it to take evasive action.

MORBI, India (AP) — India’s prime minister has visited the site in western India where a newly repaired 143-year-old suspension bridge collapsed into a river. The accident sent hundreds plunging into the water, killing at least 135 in one of the country’s worst accidents in years.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean officials have admitted responsibility and apologized for failures in preventing and responding to a Halloween crowd surge that killed more than 150 people and left citizens shocked and angry. National police chief Yoon Hee Keun acknowledged that officers didn’t effectively handle emergency calls about the impending disaster.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis are voting in national elections that are being held for the fifth time since 2019, hoping to break the political deadlock that's paralyzed the country. The cost of living is surging, Israeli-Palestinian tensions are boiling over and Iran remains a central threat.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian truckers supportive of President Jair Bolsonaro have blocked hundreds of roads to protest his election loss to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Many truck drivers have jammed traffic in areas across the country since da Silva's victory on Sunday night and said they won’t acknowledge Bolsonaro’s defeat.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has resumed its blockade of Ukrainian ports, cutting off urgently needed grain exports to hungry parts of the world. Russia has suspended a U.N.-brokered deal to allow safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukraine, one of the world’s breadbaskets. The Kremlin took the step because it alleged that Ukraine staged a drone attack against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet off occupied Crimea. Ukraine has denied the attack.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A massive barrage of Russian strikes hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities in Ukraine. The attacks on Monday morning knocked out water and power supplies in apparent retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet over the weekend. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 80% of consumers in the city were left without water supplies and that local authorities are working on restoring the supplies as soon as possible.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The United States is preparing to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers in northern Australia, a news report said Monday, prompting China to accuse the U.S. of undermining regional peace and stability.

MORBI, India (AP) — Military teams were searching Monday for people missing after a 143-year-old suspension bridge collapsed into a river Sunday in the western Indian state of Gujarat, sending hundreds plunging into the water and killing at least 133 in one of the country's worst accidents in years.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Koreans mourned and searched for relatives lost in the “hell-like” chaos that killed more than 150 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, when a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in Seoul. It remained unclear what led the crowd to surge into the downhill alley in the Itaewon area on Saturday night. Witnesses said people fell on each other “like dominoes.”

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ken Fallas watched a dozen or more unconscious partygoers being carried out from a narrow backstreet packed with youngsters dressed like movie characters. Overwhelmed, he couldn’t process what was happening. Fallas is a Costa Rican architect who has worked in Seoul for the past eight years.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Polls in Brazil have closed in a polarizing presidential runoff election pitting President Jair Bolsonaro against his political nemesis, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Both are well-known, divisive figures who stir passion as much as loathing. The incumbent vows to safeguard conservative Christian values, while the challenger promises to return the country to a more prosperous past.